What about it, Evans?
by Mylifeasafangirl
Summary: The thing about being friends with the Marauders is that people often notice you... Sometimes for the wrong reasons. Of course,that means there's always talk about you in some way or another. So how do Lily and her friends cope with it? Please Read and Review and also follow the story and my profile! Currently, looking for a beta!
1. Chapter 1

Lily had never really fit in anywhere. In the muggle world, she had been shut out from the other children because she could do weird things that they couldn't do and were scared of, and in the wizarding world, she didn't grow up as a witch or have a magical family member so wasn't classed as an actual witch by many students. No, Lily Evans had never really fit in anywhere, she never really had many friends and she didn't really have much of a family that knew about her. However, she didn't mind not fitting in; it made her more unique, the friends she did have were amazing and the best anyone could ask for and the family that did know about her loved her anyway and that was enough for her. Whilst her life might not be as great as other peoples, it was great for her and she wouldn't change it a bit.

In a few minutes, Lily would be on the Hogwarts Express to her beloved school to start her sixth year. She might have met up with her friends Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, Alice Prewett and Dorcas Meadows, but that didn't mean she wouldn't squeal and gush when she saw them. Just like how when she finally sat in the typical compartment on the train that her and her friends always sat in, she wouldn't try and familiarise herself with the walls and seats, just like every year. Just like how when she eventually saw Potter and the other Marauders, she would scowl and try her best to ignore Sirius obviously point her out to James as she passed. However, this year she realised that she had to try and keep her promise to Remus. That was new. And probably hard. Over the holidays, Lily had been in regular contact with her favourite Marauder through letters and during that, he had somehow made her promise to try and make friends with James...

Lily knew that Remus was probably right. James had matured, it wasn't his fault that her best friend had insulted her with the worst name she could think of, it was Severu- no, Snape's. James had stopped attacking people in the corridors for no reason, he had stopped doing ridiculously stupid things to get her attention and he had actually stopped being annoying to the point of 'I will kill him'. She had to admit to herself that she had thought to make an effort this year, even before Remus made her promise.

As she reached the magical barrier through to Platform 9 ¾, Lily dragged herself back to reality rather her thoughts. Making sure no muggles noticed her disappear, Lily slipped back in to the magical world and took a deep breath. She was home. Where she actually belonged and could be herself. Straining to stretch herself far enough upward so she could see over the crowd for her friends, lily started to make her way forward and accidentally bumped in to a tall middle aged woman. Apologising profusely, Lily watched as the woman turned slowly until she faced the redhead. Instantly, Lily noticed the eyes. They were hazel, just like James'. And the elderly man next to her had the same messy black, though greying, hair as the Marauder. Lily's heart slowed.

"I'm so very, very sorry, ma'am. I wasn't looking where I was go. Are you alright? Can I help you in anyway?" Lily fussed, setting her bag down on the floor and hugging herself to stop herself from shaking.

"I'm quite alright, dear, please do stop apologising. Are you, by any chance, Lily Evans?", the woman asked curiously.

"Umm, yes I am"

"Oh good, I've been waiting years to meet you. I'm Dorea Potter and this here is my husband, Charlus. Our son hasn't stopped talking about you since he came home for Christmas in first year! You're just as beautiful as he said and you have such gor-" Mrs Potter introduced her self before being cut off by a embarassed voice.

"Mum? What are you doing? Who are you talking to?", James asked as her neared the group, unable to see the redhead as she was hiding herself behind Sally.

"Oh, we're just saying hello to your friend, Lily. She's so amazingly nice, isn't she James?" Mr Potter finally spoke up.

Stunned James, walked closer so he was able to see Lily. Suddenly, James dodged around his parents and whispered to Lily urgently, "I'm so sorry Lil, I didn't mean for you to ever find out. Just ignore them, you'll be fine, I swear", looking down at the girl with pleading and giant eyes.

"It's fine James. I love your parents already. They're fantastic, honestly, and they've only said good thing, _I _swear" Lily whispered back. She had remembered her promise to Remus and instinctively said his first name, visibly causing him to catch a glint in his eyes. Not something of victory, but more of surprise.

Five or ten minutes passed as the group of four chatted easily, Lily all the time aware of how friendly she had acted without even meaning to. Maybe she really did want to be friends with him. After all she was good friends with Remus, on pretty good terms with Sirius and Peter hardly spoke to her but she thought of him as someone she liked. As she thought, her mouth went on autopilot as it usually did when she was talking to parents of friends, until she was suddenly jolted out of James shaking her shoulder.

"We have to go now, Lil, the trains going to leave in a minute"

"OK then. \it was nice meeting you, Sally, Charlus. I look forward to seeing you again!" Lily said goodbye and shook their hands politely before being swept up into a hug by the couple. Laughing James hugged his parents and dragged Lily, holding her luggage, to the train.

"Thanks for, um, pretending you were my mate. You know, just then. I appreciate it because I know you hate me but that was awesome what you did. My parents don't know much about what goes on between us just what I tell them ab-",

"James, shut up"

"Huh, sorry", his head dropped embarassed.

Noticing what it must've sounded like, Lily hopped on to the step for the train and turned to face him, "No, I don't mean it like shut up because I hate you. I mean shut up as in you've got it all wrong. I wasn't lying to impress your parents or save your skin. I was doing it because they're nice people and over the summer... I thought it would be a good idea to try and be your friend. I also promised Remus I would try. So yeah, it was more for me to know my, hopefully, new friends parents and to show you I'm not really the bitch I act towards you" Lily blurted.

James fell silent. The look he was giving Lily was like he just watched his favourite Quidditch team won the Quidditch World Cup when they were at the bottom of the tables before. It was full of hope, surprise, elation and confusion.

Half smiling in awkwardness, Lily turned and gestured for him to get on the train before walking along the hallway to find her friends.

"Wait. Are you serious? You actually want to be my friend? Is this some sort of joke because I don't think you'd be that low..." James finally gasped out.

"You're right it's all a joke... Merlin, James I'm not kidding! I genuinely want to be your friend. I know its random and you probably don't want to risk it but, hey, I want to be friends so I guess its up to you now?", her emerald green eyes were hopeful staring up at the boy towering over her.

"Hey Lily Evans, I'm James Potter, do you want to be my friend?"

"Hi James Potter, I would love to be you friend".

The two smiled shyly at each other, shook hands to confirm it mockingly and continued searching for their friends. Every compartment was full, that they passed, until they neared the back of the train where it was less crowded. Eventually, the duo found their friends. Only they were all in the same compartment. All eight of them were crammed into the tiny space, with a few people nearly on each others laps.

Exchanging confused looks, Lily and James entered the compartment and were greeted by a stunned silence, incredulous stares and a smug grin from Remus who winked at lily who instantly blushed.

"What's going on here then?" Marlene and Sirius both accused at the same time, in perfect synchronization. They then both glared at each other before smirking and resuming their stare at the two.

Soon enough, James and Lily, with a little help from Remus, had explained what had happened over the summer and on the platform outside. The audience nodded and grinned accordingly until the duo tried to sit down and ended up on the floor because there was no space. More time was spent trying to think of a way to make the space bigger so they could fit the 10 teenagers comfortably until Peter chirped out about an expanding charm which worked perfectly. The rest of the three hour train ride was spent catching up, exchanging holiday gossip and playing Exploding Snap. This was the most fun that Lily had had all summer and she was even more elated to be going back to Hogwarts. This year might result in war in the Wizarding World, might result in even more stress and worry and maybe even in more arguments than last year. But at least she had her friends that would stick with her through everything. This would be the year she got her friends and people understood who she was for her personality rather than her blood status. Maybe this year was going to be better than the last one.

A/N: Hey there! So this is my first chapter of the fanfic... I'm not so sure of the title, so if you have any ideas, please please message me! At the moment, I like this and I hope to stick with it until the end, hopefully even a second one for seventh year if its not included in this fanfic! So, I am actually looking for a beta for this because I want it to be really good and all that.. if anyone is interested *crosses fingers for luck* please can you PM me? Anyway, please review because then it comes up on my iPod through an email and I'm more likely to remember to post the next chapter! yeah so; any ideas for the title or want to be my beta, please message me and PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

Soon enough, the train ride was over, students were filing out of the train towards the carriages and, as usual in Scotland, it was raining. The group were soaked to the bone when they finally found an empty carriage before jumping in and laughing at each others appearance. Most of them looked as if they were a drowned cat, only Mary was able to have some resemblance of dignity because of hiding under Remus' cloak having stolen it to sleep under in the compartment. However, their spirits weren't dampened by the weather, in fact it only made them more hyper and restless. Everyone was laughing and chatting, even as they bombed out of the carriage, up the main steps and into the Entrance Hall before magically drying themselves and going to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

Soon enough, the Great Hall was full and McGonagall finally stood to fetch and warn the First Years. It was now that James fell silent next to Lily. He was tense and so was Sirius opposite him. What was going on? James and Sirius were tense just after the First Years had been summoned?

Curiosity getting the better of her, Lily leaned over to James and whispered in his ear, his hair tickling his nose, "What's wrong James? You and Sirius have gone all tense".

Shaking his head, James turned so he was almost touching Lily's nose with his own, "My sister is about to be sorted today. We know how upset she'll be if she isn't sorted into Gryffindor. She thinks that it will be the biggest dishonour and blah blah blah".

Hearing the conversation, Sirius added, "We know it's not true but we spent all summer trying to persuade her she was wrong and it would be fine if she was a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. But no, she really wants to a be lion. Of course, I mean, we are totally awesome" he joked at the end seeing the panicked look on James' face. It didn't work.

As the First Years stumbled in, looking up in awe at the ceiling as mass of students watching them, Lily watched out for a girl with black hair like James'. She nearly missed her. Instead of having crazy black hair, her hair was straight, long and tame. However, she was the spitting image of James, down to the way she grinned at the Marauders as she passed and then double take at Lily.

Giggling at James' blush, Lily watched as the new students were sorted. A majority were Hufflepuff, a few Ravenclaw and Slytherin and nearly a quarter of them were Gryffindor. Including James' sister. As soon as she was sorted,the girl darted over to sit by her brother who instantly kissed her forehead and hugged her affectionately.

"Happy now sis?" Sirius joked, ruffling the girls hair.

"Of course I am, Merlin do you think I would be sad?! Anyway, new people! Hi I'm Lucy! Nice to meet you" the girl introduced herself , leaning around James to smile at everyone.

Alice, Dorcas, Marlene and Mary all introduced themselves to Lucy but by the time it was Lily's turn, Lucy interrupted her,

"Oh, don't bother introducing yourself, Lil. I already know you and everything abou-". James' hand had clapped over her mouth, his face was pale and red at the same time and the glare he was giving his sister would have petrified Lily. But Lucy was unaffected. James's hand suddenly came away with a yelp and he started wiping it on his robes that he had put on earlier on the train. She had obviously licked his hand.

Coughing to hide his laughter, Remus turned from his conversation with Dorcas and distracted Lucy with Sirius as the food appeared so that James could explain to Lily as Remus knew he was desperate to do.

"I'm so sorry, Lil. I didn't tell her, I was telling mum and dad and she must have been hiding outside the door and eavesdropping. I'm so sorry, honestly"

"James, don't be an idiot. I know that you've told your parents, obviously, and I don't care. Why would I care about your sister knowing? She seems awesome and I think I'll get on well with her. In fact, I think she'll be helpful in teasing you a lot, so beware... Now eat, you're being ridiculous" Lily scolded teasingly.

Dinner passed easily with lots of chatter and laughter between the group and James' sister. Eventually, Dumbledore stood and sent everyone to bed quickly, causing lots of bleary eyed and yawning students to troop out of the Hall, full from their dinners. It seemed that the Marauders, Lily, Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, Alice and Lucy were the only people who still had a morsel of energy. Being the typical boys, James and Sirius challenged each other to a piggy back race; the first one back to Gryffindor Tower without being caught, won. Obviously, James crept up behind Lily and swung her on to his back easily whilst Sirius grabbed Marlene as his partner. Neither wanted to forfeit, of course they would pick the smallest two.

The race began.

Lily was carried laughing as loud as she could in the thrill of it through secret passageways she hadn't noticed before and up flights of stairs so fast she started to get slightly dizzy. When James reached the area of the castle that McGonagall resided in, he slowed slightly and shushed Lily. To muffle her giggles, Lily shoved her head into the crook of James' neck where it connected to his shoulder. Though James tried not to show it, his whole body tensed up. Awkwardly, Lily turned her head so her mouth was near his ear,

"What's wrong James? Do you want me to get down?"

"No. nothings wrong, I'm just on alert... If you get down, I'll forfeit and Sirius will make me do something stupid. Please don't get down?" his voice sounded a little tense.

"Alright, I won't. I'm just going to put my head back, if thats ok, so that a professor won't hear us because I'm laughing"

James nodded. Carefully, James started forward, keeping to the shadows so he wasn't seen by anyone, stepping carefully so he didn't step on a loose stone and trip over or make a noise. As soon as he was out of the corridor, James was running full pelt up stairs and corridors towards the Tower. Lily realised just how fast the Quidditch player was. If she tried to look at the floor or walls, they blurred, she couldn't make out any individual items around her, just dark or light colours that could have been tricks of the light.

A minute, they arrived at the Fat Lady. What should have taken ten minutes, had taken four, lily was impressed. Only a few seconds later, Sirius ran around the corner complaining,

"Why are you so heavyyyy?"

"I'm not heavy, idiot, you're just weak" Marlene scowled.

From the look on Marlene's face, this had been happening all the way here. Finally the duo noticed James and Lily standing by the portrait with smug looks on their faces,

"Oh so, Sirius, Marlene, you finally decided to join us, hmm?" James mocked.

"I'm so sorry my Highness, I'm afraid my noble steed was not up to the job. I'm afraid to admit that you have won the competition and are allowed to think of the worst of dares for Sirius and I" Marlene had been friends with James since they were little; they lived next to each other in what could've been the middle of nowhere and their parents were best friends before them. It made sense for the two to be friends from a young age. And, of course, when James and Sirius became best friends, it was only inevitable for Marlene and Sirius to become friends as well. However, the relationship between the two wasn't normal; they bickered and were protective like brother and sister but the way they sometimes acted towards each other was as if they were mortal enemies. Lily found it all very confusing. Even with Marlene as her best friend out of the four girls she shared a dorm with, even out of all her friends, Lily was still unsure as to what was happening. In all fairness, it seemed that Marlene and Sirius seemed to be too.

Smirking, Lily said the new password to the Fat Lady and led the way inside to an empty Common Room, and upon finding it empty, dived on to the sofa in front of the fire. Slightly impressed, James forced Lily to sit up so he could also sit on the couch leaving Marlene and Sirius to glare at each other from the opposite arm chairs. Everything was moderately silent as Lily and James debated what the dare should be in hushed voices and the two black haired friends sulked, until the rest of the group entered the room. Jumping up, Sirius moaned,

"Moony, they beat us! It's all Marlene's fault! Did you know she is really very, very heavy? I mean... come on, you wouldn't expect it, would you?"

Throughout this, Remus and Mary both raised an eyebrow sceptically whilst Alice's mouth quirked and interjected,

"Marlene's far from heavy, dolt. She's light, you're probably just lazy and have no strength. You know I'm right" she mocked, winking to let Sirius know she was joking.

Laughing, Lucy, Remus, Dorcas, Mary, Peter, and Alice all settled on the floor and remaining sofa and watched as Lily and James debated. It took a while for them to finally resurface from the conversation but when they did they grinned evilly at their two competitors, making them shrink back down in the armchairs they had claimed.

Coughing to get everyone's attention, James began, "So, your dare is to go down to McGonagall and ask for her blessing for you two to get married as you are engaged..."

"That's a very bad dare, James and you know it..." Peter put in.

"Ah but Peter," Lily reprimanded, "during this, they will only be in their underwear; Sirius in his boxers and Marlene in her bra and underwear, with freshly snogged hair and appearance. They are not allowed to cover up on their way there or back or in front of her. They aren't allowed to tell anyone who sees to go away or leave them alone. Also they have to act as if they're in love the whole time... I think that was all"

James nodded which caused everyone to pale. James was out for a laugh and Lily's brain added with James' mischievousness definitely equalled what James was after. Suddenly, Sirius received a cunning look in his eyes,

"Well if we have to have freshly snogged hair and appearance, what better way to do that than to have a passionate make out session?". He winked at Marlene.

"Come on then, Black, woo me and we'll go get our blessing... We'll be back in a few minutes, guys!"

That was another thing about the two that confused Lily, they had days like today where it seemed as of they were some horny couple that actually were in love.

As the two left, everyone rearranged themselves; James moved to sit on the floor to talk Quidditch with Dorcas and Mary (they were both on the Quidditch team as well as James), Remus moved up to sit with Lily and Peter and Alice started up a mini wizard chess tournament while they waited. However, what Lily was focusing on, was Remus' smug look towards Lily and then James alternatively.

"Be quiet, Lupin" she grumbled.

"I was being quiet! All I'm trying to say is that I'm happy you're making an effort even if it is being I forced you... but still it seems to me that you have your own reasons as well?"

Lily was quiet for a moment.

"I had been thinking that he is a good friend to you guys, and he has matured which is what I said I wanted him to do last year.. I guess, I saw him with you guys, and I looked at myself and how I am so annoyingly high strung and I thought that, because being his mate wouldn't be too bad, it would be a good idea in more than one way. He, being so carefree, could bring me down to a normal level and make me a more fun person to be around... If you tell him any of this to him or anyone, I will personally kill you with my bare hands, understood?"

Remus glupped and nodded, slightly intimidated. Satisfied she turned happily and started talking to her friend about what he thought the year ahead would bring for them.

By the time the 'few minutes' were over (it had been at least ten) the aim had been perfected and both of them were glowing with ruffled hair and swollen lips. Catching the attention of James, Sirius announced,

"OK, so now we look the part..."

"You need to be in just your underwear, remember?" Dorcas joked.

Looking at the brunette who had just spoken dead in the eye, Sirius reached down to his shirt hem and pulled it off over him, dumped it on the floor and proceeded to do the same for his trousers. Marlene following the example given after staring astounded for a moment before Alice smirked at her, grinned happily when the looks on everyone's faces showed they didn't think the dare would actually be completed.

After a moment, James suggested, "Well we can make sure the dare is completed perfectly by using the invisibility cloak, cant we?"

"YOU HAVE AN INVISIBILTY CLOAK?!", all the girls but Marlene chimed incredulous.

"Um.. well... Yes? I mean, yes. I do. Its a family heirloom of course. But anyway, there's not enough of it to cover everyone here. Judging our sizes, maybe two or three people?" James answered cautiously and then searching the size of everyone around him, excluding Marlene and Sirius.

After a few minutes of thinking, Alice asked, "Well if there's only room for two people, I think it should probably be the two people who came up with the dare? I dunno, just an idea, really?".

"That's a good idea" Peter confirmed, causing everyone else to agree as well.

Racing upstairs to fetch his cloak, James shouted down "I've forgotten how many people are actually in Gryffindor!" followed by a loud 'ow' and several thumping noises. He was have tripped over someone, Lily thought.

Seconds later, James had returned, limping slightly and then threw the cloak over Lily and himself. Not really believing that it was an _actual invisibility cloak_ waved to everyone and started pulling funny faces, seeing if they would notice. Of course, Lily had forgotten James was there too, and could see what she was doing. Until he put his head atop hers and whispered,

"It is real, Lil. Really genuine, I promise. They can't see us at all. By the way, nice faces you had there" before removing his head, though it seemed a little reluctant.

Only when the heat of his body had vanished, did Lily realised how much it felt comfortable to have James behind her like that. That wasn't normal. She had never thought of it like that, never thought she would ever experience that with James, ever.

Shaking her head as if she was laughing, Lily spoke in a loud voice so the others would hear her, "Well are we going or what?".

Only ten minutes later, they had arrived in McGonagall's classroom and were standing outside the office door. James had visibly sighed when they had reached this point because there had been no-one, and literally no-one, out in the hallways to laugh at his brother and sister like friends. However, they were at the climax of their dare. Taking a deep breath, Sirius and Marlene both put large fake smiles on their faces, grabbed each others hands and then knocked on the door off the office.

A few seconds later, the door was opened. As soon as she saw the two practically naked students in front of her, Minerva McGonagall's eyes bulged in surprise and most likely disappointment.

"Hello Minnie!" Sirius' voice quavered. He knew he was in trouble already and using his favourite nickname for the teacher would only make it worse, but still he had an act to keep up.

"What do you two think you are doing?" the Professor instantly asked, causing Lily to start giggling, clap a hand over her mouth and turn her face into James' shoulder to stop the sound reaching the woman near them.

"We would like to ask for your blessing, Miss", Marlene was shaking.

"Blessing? For what?"

"Well, Minnie, we are engaged! I, Sirius Black, have proposed to my wonderful Marlene and she accepted me! Will you do us the greatest honour of giving us your blessing?"

"SIRIUS BLACK! MARLENE MCKINNON! YOU BOTH HAVE DETENTION FOR TWO WEEKS. I WILL NOT TOLERATE THIS BEHAVIOUR FROM YOU TWO, IT IS THE FIRST NIGHT HERE, GIVE IT A BREAK!" the teacher shouted before retreating into her room and slamming the door.

A/N: So I had this started today and I thought because I might not be able to update this weekend due to revising, I would post it tonight! Thank you to the people who have already reviewed and favourited my story, it means a lot! Anyway, again please message me if you want to be my beta, have a question or have a title idea! Otherwise please review!

A/N 2: Ok, I know I just posted this but I forgot to proof read it so I've made a few changes here and there and it's all good now. Sorry!


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